Kazakhstan's Democratic Forces Forum |
Kazakh authorities launched campaign aimed to discredit European Parliament Testimony of Amirzhan Kosanov, Dear Mr. Chairman, Together with my fellow countrymen and colleagues, I represent here Kazakh opposition, which is united in its ambition to establish democracy in our country. The European Parliament's resolution of February 13, 2003 is saturated with the same aspirations. It expresses protest at the political persecution of opposition and the media, and is filled with concern for the fate of the Kazakh nation. We thank you, Mr. Chairman, and your colleagues for your courageous step. Unfortunately, the Kazakh authorities have launched a campaign aimed to discredit the resolution and the European Parliament itself. The foreign minister has been trying to convince the people that the resolution is illegitimate and has been adopted in breach of the rules of procedure. Members of pro-presidential parties in the parliament have joined this campaign and even vowed to press for revoking the resolution of February 13, 2003. We hope they will fail to do so, like they have failed to annul the statements and resolutions by the OSCE, Council of Europe, U.S. Congress and State Department, Italian Senate, Human Rights Watch, Helsinki Commission, International League for Human Rights, Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Sans Frontieres, and many other organizations. I would like to remind participants in the hearings that deputies of current Kazakh Parliament were elected in 1999 as a result of the elections that the OSCE had refused to send its observers to and found "unjust and falling short of international democratic standards." Under fire of international criticism, the Nazarbayev regime has started to build quasi-democratic institutions intended to serve the interests of the ruling clan. These institutions have been created only by presidential decrees and have been run either by him or by his relations or subordinates. All these bodies, including the dubious "council on democratization" and the newly appointed Ombudsman have got no real powers. What is the actual situation in Kazakhstan today? All the branches of power, namely the legislature, the executive branch and the judiciary, report to President Nursultan Nazarbayev only. He appoints by decree the Central Election Commission, governors, judges at each level and part of the parliamentary deputies. To protect his power, the President Nazarbayev regime has committed gross violations of fundamental political rights and civil liberties. Former Kazakh prime minister and democratic opposition leader Akezhan Kazhegeldin has been tried in absentia and sentenced to jail for his political activities. He has been forced to live in exile, from where he carries out his political activity. The European Parliament has handed Akezhan Kazhegeldin a Freedom Passport. At the beginning of the third millenium, there are political prisoners in Kazakhstan like in the Stalin-era times. Two founding members of the Democratic Choice for Kazakhstan movement, Mukhtar Ablyazov and Galymzhan Zhakiyanov, were convicted last year and have been serving their terms in jail. Before they joined the opposition to Nursultan Nazarbayev, one of them had been a minister, and the other had been a governor. These examples are not an exception. I have also become a victim of the crackdown: two criminal cases have been filed against me and as a result I could face a prison term. I would like to take this advantage and ask you to continue to urge Nursultan Nazarbayev to vacate all sentences passed on opposition politicians! The press situation in Kazakhstan is dramatic. Major part of media outlets are owned or controlled by the President, members of his family or entourage. The state-run media are also under their control. For instance, Nazarbayev's eldest daughter Dariga and her husband own several television channels, radio stations and major national newspapers. At the same time, Dariga Nazarbayeva is the president of the state-run television and radio company Khabar. Opposition members have no access to these media. A week ago, the political committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe held here, in Strasbourg, its hearing on Kazakhstan. The Khabar journalists interviewed only representatives of the pro-presidential parties and deputy foreign minister. Neither the television company nor the news agency reported on the critical presentations by opposition members or international human rights groups. I am sure the information on today's hearings in the official media will also be perverted. Independent media and journalists who write about the regime's crackdown and corruption have been facing intimidation and violent attacks. The latest in a series of such incidents has been the criminal case and the verdict against the publicist Sergey Duvanov. Last year the authorities brought against him criminal charges of "insulting the honor and dignity of President Nazarbayev." Some time later, he was severely beaten and stabbed by unidentified thugs. After they had failed to silence Duvanov, they arrested him on fabricated charges. Western diplomats who attended the trial of Duvanov have come to a conclusion that he was jailed for the crime he had not committed. You could read a report by the Dutch Embassy employees who observed the trial on behalf of the OSCE, as the Netherlands currently performs the function of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office. Sergey Duvanov has been sentenced to jail in retaliation for writing articles about the "Kazakhgate" corruption scandal that involves multi-million bribes and secret accounts of the Kazakh high-level officials and their family members. Several days ago the U.S. prosecutors brought charges against James Giffen, the long-time personal adviser to Nazarbayev, and Bryan Williams, a top Mobil Oil executive. They are charged with paying dozens of millions of dollars in bribes to President Nazarbayev and his former Prime Minister Balgimbayev for oil rights in Kazakhstan. A year ago, journalist Lira Bayseitova interviewed Geneva's prosecutor B. Bertossa who had blocked dozens of Swiss bank accounts controlled by Kazakh leaders. After that, Lira Bayseitova was cruelly beaten. She almost lost her eyesight in one eye. But later even a more terrible thing occurred: Lira Bayseitova's daughter was detained and died in agony in police custody in Almaty. The authorities said she committed suicide. That is the price the honest journalists pay for speech freedom in Kazakhstan! We urge the European Parliament to demand that the Kazakh authorities revoke all politically motivated judgements and stop crackdown on journalists. We urge you to continue to link any cooperation with official Astana to its respect of human rights and liberties in Kazakhstan. We are firmly convinced that the existing Constitution legitimizes the dictatorship and is a barrier to democratization. There is the need to draft and adopt such a Constitution that will meet the internationally accepted norms. This is why we would like to ask that the European Parliament in association with the Council of Europe and the OSCE convene an international conference to discuss the problem of Kazakh Constitution. Proposals for a new Kazakh Constitution should become a major issue on its agenda. This document should serve as a guarantee for building democracy in Kazakhstan and free it from the imminent shock connected with the regime's withdrawal from the political stage. A new constitution should become a pass that will enable Kazakhstan to join the community of European democratic states. Thank you for your attention and for your concern over the fate of independent Kazakhstan and its nation.
E-mail, April 10, 2003
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